Rabobank Best of The Country: December 17, 2022

This week on the Best of The Country, Jamie Mackay caught up with Rabobank’s Global Head of Rural, Lara Yocarini, for a chat about everything from a world recession, to football, to “Amsterdam cookies”.

The week's top interviews were:

Christopher Luxon:

We caught up with National’s leader for the final time in 2022 as we pondered the Hamilton West by-election, Three Waters, the TVNZ/RNZ merger, emissions pricing, tactical voting for Act and why the BBQ season was so important ahead of an election year.

Lara Yocarini:

Rabobank’s Global Head of Rural talked about her observations from her recent trip to New Zealand, where we caught up at the Rabobank client function at Fieldays. Plus, she commented on the likelihood of a world recession in 2023 and on the challenges facing food producers in other regions worldwide, particularly in her home country of the Netherlands. Football, ice-skating and Amsterdam cookies also made a cameo appearance.

Tom Sturgess:

The high-profile American/Kiwi sheep and beef farmer (with a fantastic back story) placed a full-page advertisement in several newspapers nationwide urging the Government to “do right by farmers, and our planet”.

Don Carson:

It is one of the longest-held traditions on our radio show, dating way back to the 1990s when one of our longest-serving correspondents named his annual Ag Person of the Year.

Damien O’Connor:

The Minister of Agriculture and Trade joined us for his final chat for 2022 and it would be fair to say the conversation/debate took some unexpected twists and turns.

Listen below: